Lack of rebel force hinders battle in southern Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP)  As opposition fighters advance in northern Afghanistan, the war is lagging in the south, an even more formidable front deep in the stronghold of the Taliban and the al-Qaida network.

A month of air strikes by U.S. warplanes  including a week of bombing Taliban front lines  helped opposition forces take the city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday. Americans contributed military supplies and advice, leaving the ground fighting to a loose coalition known as the northern alliance, which has battled the ruling Taliban for years.

In the south, there is no such rebel force. With difficulty, Washington has searched for allies to start an uprising in the region, which includes Kandahar, the Taliban's headquarters.

"There are individuals who would try to put together ... a southern alliance," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said at a Pentagon briefing. "But because of the differences of north and south ... I think that's best left invisible for the time being."

Under one scenario, the United States and Pakistan could arm sympathetic refugees in camps along the Pakistani-Afghan border to return to Afghanistan.

But U.S military planners think the best course is to approach ethnic Pashtun tribal leaders in the south who are unhappy with the Taliban  and persuade or bribe them to defect.

The CIA has taken the lead in trying to identify such individuals or groups, the Pentagon then working to equip and arm them, said a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Assembling an opposition force from among the Pashtun has been an elusive goal. They make up the country's largest ethnic group and the south's largest as well as dominating the Taliban. It's another difference from north, which is mostly ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks, groups that dominate the northern alliance.

A potentially sizable number of Pashtun leaders who likely have a working understanding with the Taliban for running their tribal areas now "are arguably open to making different arrangements," said Teresita Schaffer, Asia director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"Their loyalty to the Taliban has been severely strained by what's happened in the past six weeks, but that won't be clear until they have something to defect to," she said.